Professional Documents
Culture Documents
and
Divergences:
Interdisciplinary
Approaches
to
Media
and
Communications
in
Africa-China
Engagement
The
4th
Chinese
in
Africa/Africans
in
China
Conference,
Nairobi,
18-20
August
2016
The
fourth
conference
convened
by
the
Chinese
in
Africa/Africans
in
China
(CA/AC)
Research
Network
will
take
place
in
Nairobi,
Kenya
on
18-20
August
2016.
The
event
will
be
co-hosted
with
the
Aga
Khan
University
at
their
School
of
Media
and
Communications
(Westlands)
campus.
Other
event
partners
include:
Fahamu,
China
House,
the
Sino
Africa
Centre
for
Excellence
(SACE)
Foundation,
The
Nation
Media
Group,
African
Media
Initiative,
the
Wits
China-Africa
Reporting
Project,
the
African
Studies
Center
at
Michigan
State
University,
and
the
School
of
International
Studies/Academy
of
Overseas
Chinese
Studies
at
Jinan
University.
The
aim
of
the
CA/AC
conference
is
to
bring
together
a
small
group
of
scholars
who
have
been
engaged
in
empirical
research
and
whose
work
focuses
on
the
people-related
aspects
of
China-Africa
engagements
from
across
the
world.
This
year
the
conference
also
has
a
special
focus
on
media,
communications,
and
related
issues
of
representation,
perception
and
images.
This
is
meant
to
be
a
working
conference
for
participants
to
share
knowledge,
receive
constructive
comments
to
further
develop
their
research,
and
connect
with
one
another
in
an
intimate
setting.
In
addition
to
the
working
conference,
the
Aga
Khan
University
will
be
hosting
a
symposium
on
Getting
Heard
in
order
to
bring
together
scholars
and
media
practitioners,
and
a
public
seminar
on
the
two
days
preceding
the
conference.
The
list
of
panels
is
now
ready
and
can
be
found
below.
The
panels
fall
into
several
broader
thematic
areas:
A.
Race,
Perception,
Culture,
and
Representation
B.
Media
Practices
and
Practitioners
in
China-Africa
Engagement
C.
Politics,
Public
Policy,
and
Diplomacy
In
addition
to
the
panels
listed
below,
early
career
scholars
are
encouraged
to
present
their
work
in
progress;
these
papers
will
receive
careful
reading
and
feedback
from
a
panel
of
senior
scholars.
We
hope
to
contribute
to
capacity
building
and
informal
mentoring
for
those
who
desire
the
guidance
of
senior
scholars
in
the
field.
Depending
on
the
number
of
abstracts
received
we
will
organize
1-2
panels
especially
for
this
purpose.
These
papers
can
focus
on
any
aspect
of
Africa-China
relations
and
need
not
be
focused
specifically
on
media
&
communications.
We
invite
scholars
to
submit
paper
abstracts
that
will
fit
into
these
panels;
please
ensure
that
you
specify
the
panel
that
best
accommodates
your
paper
topic.
Paper
proposals
(abstracts)
are
due
no
later
than
15
February
2016.
They
should
be
submitted
on
the
form
circulated
along
with
this
call
and
sent
to
NairobiCAAC2016@gmail.com.
The
conference
organizing
committee
will
select
the
papers
for
the
conference
in
consultation
with
the
panel
chairs.
Each
panel
can
accommodate
at
least
three
but
no
more
than
four
papers;
if
a
panel
does
not
receive
at
least
three
papers,
we
reserve
the
right
to
cancel
said
panel.
Feel
free
to
contact
the
chairs
queries
about
specific
panels.
For
all
other
questions,
please
contact
the
conference
organizers
at
NairobiCAAC2016@gmail.com.
Notifications
will
be
sent
out
by
Friday
4
March.
Those
whose
abstracts
have
been
accepted
will
be
expected
to
submit
full
draft
papers
to
the
panel
chairs
by
1
August
2016.
1
Practical
information:
There
is
a
registration
fee
for
conference
attendance
this
year.
The
registration
fee
is
US$120;
PhD
students
and
those
who
can
demonstrate
need
will
pay
a
reduced
fee
of
US$60.
Attendance
of
those
not
participating
directly
in
the
conference
will
limited
and
determined
on
a
case-by-case
basis;
anyone
wishing
to
attend
the
conference
and
not
presenting
a
paper
will
be
asked
to
pay
the
full
registration
fee.
Registration
fees
will
go
toward
covering
costs
of
tea/coffee,
lunches,
and
materials.
We
regret
that
we
cannot
cover
accommodation
or
travel
costs.
Information
about
accommodation
as
well
as
evening
and
side
activities
will
be
forthcoming.
Participants
will
be
responsible
for
their
own
travel
arrangements,
hotel
bookings,
airport
transfers
and
visas.
Further
details
regarding
payment,
accommodation,
transfers,
and
side
events
will
be
sent
to
those
whose
papers
are
accepted
in
the
coming
months.
The
local
host
will
issue
letters
of
invitation
to
all
participants
for
the
purpose
of
applying
for
a
visa;
please
check
with
your
Kenyan
embassy
to
find
out
with
you
will
require
a
visa
for
travel
from
your
country
and
apply
for
these
in
a
timely
fashion.
Important
dates:
Paper
Abstracts
Due:
15
February
2016
Notification
of
Participation:
4
March
2016
Draft
Papers
Due:
1
August
2016
Symposium
&
Public
Seminar:
17-18
August
2016
Conference
dates:
18-20
August
2016
Convergences
and
Divergences:
Interdisciplinary
Approaches
to
Media
and
Communications
in
Africa-China
Engagement
The
4th
Chinese
in
Africa/Africans
in
China
Conference,
Nairobi,
18-20
August
2016
Panels
A.
Race,
Perceptions,
Culture,
and
Representation
A.1
Race
and
Racialization
in
China-Africa
Relations
Tu
HYUNH,
Jinan
University,
Email:
Huynh.2.t@gmail.com
This
panel
aims
to
contribute
to
the
growing
interest
in
the
question
of
race
in
China-Africa
relations.
We
want
to
problematize
the
phenomenon
of
racial
(re)formation.
Specifically,
it
is
concerned
with
Western
racial
(including
orientalist)
views
of
Africans
and
Chinese,
alongside
these
populations
assimilation
of
foreign
ideas
and
reconstructions
of
racial
theories.
Papers
should
shed
light
on
the
concept
of
race
and
spread
of
racism
in
the
modern
world
system,
as
well
as
on
the
recent
tensions
and
relations
between
Africa/Africans,
China/Chinese,
and
the
West/Westerners.
Papers
juxtaposing
the
place
of
East
Asians
and
Africans
in
18th
or
19th-century
European
constructions
of
race;
analyzing
the
reproduction
of
racial
constructs
(categories)
in
the
decolonization
and
post-colonial
eras;
focusing
on
the
interplay
of
nationalism
and
race;
and
delineating
the
connections
between
race,
gender,
and
other
modes
of
differentiation
are
welcome.
A.2.
Chinese
Enterprises
in
Africa:
Perceptions
and
Practices
LUO
Arting,
Sino-Africa
Centre
of
Excellence
(SACE)
Foundation,
Email:
arting@sacefoundation.org
This
panel
will
explore
how
Chinese
enterprises
in
Africa
perceive
the
business
environments
they
are
facing.
How
do
they
perceive
the
relevant
importance
of
policies
from
China,
international
organizations,
and
local
governments?
What
do
they
think
about
doing
business
in
Africa
as
compared
to
China,
particularly
in
terms
of
competition,
labor
management,
and
community
relations?
What
attitudes
do
they
take
towards
Chinese,
local
and
international
media?
Do
these
perceptions
influence
the
way
Chinese
enterprises
doing
business
in
Africa?
And
how
do
they
manifest
these
perceptions
in
their
business
practices?
A.3.
Partnership
Perceptions
and
Representations
of
China:
Confucius
Institutes
Kenneth
KING,
University
of
Edinburgh,
Email:
Kenneth.King@ed.ac.uk
Both
the
Confucius
Institutes
and
the
higher
education
partnerships
between
20
Chinese
and
20
African
universities
(20+20)
are
concerned
with
changing
the
representation
of
China
in
Africa.
The
CIs
through
the
teaching
of
Chinese
language,
culture
and
history,
and
the
20+20
through
inter-disciplinary
partnerships
present
China
as
an
all-weather
friend,
are
engaged
in
education
of
mutual
benefit
to
students
in
China
and
Africa.
Visits
to
China
are
a
crucial
dimension
of
both
schemes.
Equally
the
shared
leadership
of
CIs,
through
both
Chinese
and
African
directors,
and
the
avoidance
of
the
20+20
being
perceived
as
aid
schemes
present
China
as
an
equal
partner
with
Africa.
Papers
in
this
panel
will
examine
CIs
in
Africa
vis--vis
their
perceptions
of
partners
and
their
roles
in
representing
China.
A.4
Branding
China
in
Africa
and
Africa
in
China:
Exploring
representation
and
notions
of
suzhi
and
face
Yoon
Jung
PARK,
CA/AC
Research
Network,
Email:
yoon1@verizon.net
In
terms
of
Chinas
going
out,
Chinas
firms,
Chinese
products,
and
increasingly
Chinas
people
come
to
represent
China
and
the
China
brand.
In
Africa,
as
the
China
brand
comes
under
fire,
criticisms
are
about
quality:
shoddy
Chinese
road
or
building
construction
that
cant
withstand
more
than
one
rainy
season
and
cheap,
3
inferior,
or
fake
fong
kong
products
suitable
only
for
the
poorest
of
the
poor.
Amongst
Chinese
migrants
in
Africa,
divisions
take
shape
around
home
region,
generation
or
wave
of
migration,
but
more
often
around
these
class/quality
differences.
Members
of
the
educated
and
professional
classes
of
Chinese
migrants
speak
with
anger,
frustration,
and
embarrassment
about
the
low
class/low
quality
of
some
Chinese
migrants
migrants
who
bring
down
the
China
brand.
Similar
discourses
can
also
be
found
amongst
African
migrants
in
China.
This
panel
will
focus
discussion
on
questions
of
representation,
suzhi,
and
face
in
Africa-China
engagements.
A.5.
Migration,
culture,
identity
and
scholarship:
the
role
of
the
arts
in
Sino-African
engagements
Roberto
Castillo,
University
of
Hong
Kong,
Email:
rocas@hku.hk
From
film
and
photography
to
painting,
sculpture,
music
and
martial
arts,
current
Sino-African
cultural
exchanges
involve
a
diverse
range
of
practices.
Without
a
doubt,
contemporary
intersections
between
traders,
transmigrants,
artists,
scholars
and
media
practitioners
have
altered
(and
possibly
allowed
for
reconfigurations
of)
cultural
panoramas
in
both
China
and
Africa.
As
the
exchanges
between
people
in
these
regions
are
on
the
rise,
this
panel
calls
for
the
examination
of
both
the
historical
and
contemporary
reconfigurations
(i.e.
adaptations,
innovations,
reinterpretations)
of
certain
cultural
practices
and
the
possibilities
that
they
offer.
Currently,
a
number
of
scholars
are
working
on
issues
related
to
the
cultural
aspects
of
Sino-African
engagements.
By
focusing
on
these
aspects,
this
panel
would
draw
attention
to
the
complex
intersectionality
of
migration,
culture,
diaspora,
identity
and
representation.
Indeed,
one
of
the
main
questions
the
panel
would
examine
is:
How
are
contemporary
Sino-African
cultural
exchanges
impacting
on
traditional
cultural,
national,
and
ethno-nationally
based
identities?
The
panel
welcomes
multidisciplinary
discussion
of
the
above-mentioned
issues
through
the
lenses
of
cultural
exchanges,
cross-cultural
perception/representation,
cultural
diplomacy,
and
soft
power,
but
is
not
restricted
to
these
perspectives/themes.
B.1.
Practitioners
from
an
Academic
Perspective
Cobus
VAN
STADEN,
University
of
the
Witwatersrand,
Email:
jacobus.vanstaden@gmail.com
This
panel
will
trace
the
frontiers
of
the
contemporary
Asian
media
presence
in
Africa.
Papers
are
invited
that
go
beyond
the
traditional
focus
on
state-owned
media
in
order
to
uncover
new
models
of
reporting,
including
citizen
journalists,
small-scale
producers
and
stringers
who
work
for
multiple
outlets
at
once.
This
panel
will
therefore
break
down
the
conceptual
barriers
between:
(1)
Chinese
media
and
other
Asian
media
in
Africa;
(2)
Content
for
local
and
transnational
consumption;
(3)
State-owned
and
private
media:
and
(4)
Conventional
and
internet
media.
B.2.
Chinese
Media
in
West
Africa
Emeka
UMEJEI,
University
of
the
Witwatersrand,
Email:
mosieds@gmail.com
The
scope
of
the
panel
shall
encompass
all
aspects
of
Chinese
media
engagement
in
West
Africa
including
its
trajectory
and
evolution.
The
following
thematic
units
shall
underpin
the
scope
of
the
panel:
Chinese
media
in
Nigeria,
Ghana,
Liberia,
Sierra
Leone
and
The
Gambia;
practitioners
perspectives,
perception,
representation
and
narrative
Newspapers
coverage
of
China
in
Nigeria,
Ghana,
Liberia,
Sierra
Leone
and
The
Gambia
Star
Times
in
West
Africa;
Star
Times-Nigeria
Television
Authority
(NTA)
Partnership,
Star
Times
partnership
with
National
televisions
in
West
Africa
Influence
of
Chinas
media
investment
in
West
Africa-Nigeria,
Ghana,
Liberia,
Sierra
Leone
and
The
Gambia
Representation
of
China
in
the
West
African
(Nigeria,
Ghana,
Liberia,
Sierra
Leone
and
The
Gambia)
social
media:
West
African
Social
media
coverage
of
China-Africa
relations
4
B.3.
Social
Medias
Place
in
China-Africa
Knowledge
Production
Lina
BENABDALLAH,
University
of
Florida,
Email:
linaben@ulf.edu
Winslow
ROBERTSON,
Cowries
&
Rice,
Email:
winslowalrob@gmail.com
Social
media
platforms
such
as
WeChat,
Twitter,
and
Weibo
have
become
popular
drivers
of
the
China-Africa
discussion.
Over
time,
they
have
promoted
the
development
of
pluralist
communities
of
researchers
and
practitioners,
with
diverse
backgrounds,
specialties,
locations,
and
methodologies.
Additionally,
these
social
media
platforms
serve
producers
and
distributors
of
(mostly)
open
access
knowledge,
which
does
not
require
institutional
affiliations
and
financial
supports.
In
this
panel,
we
do
not
seek
to
prove
that
the
social
media
is
important.
We
take
that
as
a
given
and
ask
in
what
ways
is
social
media
itself
changing
the
Africa-China
discourse?
What
are
the
opportunities
and
challenges
of
this
channel
of
communication?
With
these
lines
of
inquiry
in
mind,
we
invite
papers
that
probe
the
practical
relevance
of
the
representation
of
China-Africa
through
social
media
platforms
to
the
policy
realm.
What
is
the
relevance
of
whats
being
shared,
argued,
and
discussed
on
WeChat,
Twitter,
Weibo,
etc.
to
policymaking
and
official
discourse
on
China-Africa?
Do
these
platforms
simply
allow
for
the
sharing
and
distribution
of
existing
knowledge
or
the
creation
of
new
Africa-China
ideas
and
relations?
C.1.
Carrying
Away
Small
Stones:
Interrogating
the
Role
of
Mediated
Exchanges
between
Africa-China
in
Strengthening
Chinas
Cultural
Political
Economy
Folu
OGUNDIMO,
Michigan
State
University,
Email:
ogundimu@msu.edu
Media
plays
an
influential
role
in
shaping
how
we
think
about
and
enact
culture
in
our
daily
lives.
It
does
so
by
generating
narrated
representations
of
people,
places,
events,
and
things
on
local,
national,
and
international
platforms.
In
the
contemporary
relational
context
between
Africa
and
China,
media
is
used
to
strengthen
politico-economic
ties
between
the
two
regions,
and
in
so
doing,
espouses
values
and
ideas
of
each
that
are
culturally
embedded
with
multiple
webs
of
meaning.
Using
cultural
political
economy
as
a
framework,
this
panel
examines
how
mediated
exchanges
between
Africa
and
China,
particularly
in
the
context
of
globalization,
have
and
continue
to
play
a
significant
role
in
facilitating
access
to
African
markets
and
people.
The
panel
engages
these
exchanges,
from
an
African
Studies
perspective,
using
cross-cultural
perceptions
of
the
other,
cultural
appropriation,
and
cultural
ideals
of
beauty.
C.2.
South
Africa
and
the
New
Geopolitics
of
Information:
The
Case
of
China
Hermann
WASSERMAN,
University
of
Cape
Town,
Email:
herman.wasserman@uct.ac.za
After
South
Africas
inclusion
in
the
BRICS
group
of
nations,
Chinas
footprint
in
the
South
African
mediascape
has
become
stronger
and
more
diverse.
This
can
be
seen
in
Chinas
direct
investment
in
South
African
media
houses,
in
the
production
and
distribution
of
Chinese
content
across
the
country,
and
the
involvement
of
Chinese
telecommunication
companies
in
infrastructure
development.
Despite
the
growth
in
South
Africa-China
media
relations,
existing
knowledge
on
the
matter
is
still
scant.
This
panel
proposes
to
investigate
how
the
South
African
media
facilitates
or
resists
the
countrys
growing
relationship
with
China
within
the
broader
ambit
of
the
countrys
membership
of
the
BRICS
group
of
nations.
By
bringing
the
attention
to
the
role
of
the
media,
papers
in
this
panel
seek
to
widen
the
thematic
scope
of
scholarly
works
on
Sino-African
relations,
which
have
been
largely
limited
to
economic
relations.
Although
international
research
in
this
area
is
growing
both
in
relation
to
the
question
of
soft
power
as
exercised
via
the
media,
and
in
relation
to
Chinas
increased
presence
in
Africa,
academic
studies
on
South
Africa
have
been
limited
to
exploratory
work.
This
panel
showcases
studies
that
are
based
on
empirical
evidence
and
works
that
advance
our
theoretical
understanding
of
the
new
geopolitics
of
information
within
the
context
of
South
Africa.
5
C.3.
Transnational
Migration
and
Foreign
Policy
ZHANG
Zhenjiang,
Jinan
University,
Email:
zhangzhenjiang@gmail.com
The
steadily
increasing
numbers
of
transnational
migrants
are
playing
important
roles
in
world
economy
and
politics.
This
panel
aims
to
collect
papers
on
transnational
migrants
impacts
on
the
foreign
policy
of
either
countries
of
residence
or
countries
of
origin.
Paper
proposals
on
Chinese
in
Africa
or
Africans
in
China
and
either
sending
or
host
countrys
foreign
policy,
bilateral
governmental
relations,
economies,
or
people-to-people
relations,
as
well
as
general
China-African
relations
will
be
considered
for
this
panel.
C.4.
China-Africa
Public
Diplomacy
ZHANG
Yanqiu,
Communication
University
of
China,
Email:
yqzhang@cuc.edu.cn
In
recent
years
the
practice
of
China-Africa
public
diplomacy
has
attracted
increasing
attention.
In
this
panel,
discussions
on
media
and
public
diplomacy
between
China
and
Africa,
reflections
on
Chinese
public
diplomacy
concepts,
and
comparative
studies
on
public
diplomacy
related
China-Africa
relations
are
welcome.